My Choice of Candidates in 2019 Presidential Election

Fellow Nigerians, thanks for the deluge of messages and phone calls last week after reading my memo to our dear President. I doubt if any article of mine ever generated such amazing interest from the rich and poor, educated and not so educated, alike. The closest to it would be the letter I wrote to our wonderful First Lady of yore, Dame Patient Jonathan at the peak of PDP rascality.

For the sake of those still wondering why I wrote so passionately, and objectively, in my last column, let me say it loud and clear, that memo was an apologia to Nigerians. I had promised to write whenever I’m finally convinced that the APC government has irredeemably flopped like its predecessor PDP. I wish to emphasise that as much as I wish that a miracle can still happen in the next 12 months or so to come before the general election, I’m sorry to inform you that the signs are ominous. The lackadaisical attitude of APC, and in particular, President Buhari, has become unbearably palpable. They are looking like a Party and President on a suicide mission. They keep making mistakes after mistakes, and blunders after blunders.

There was no better time to rescue itself from the kamikaze slide than during the mass funeral in Benue State two days ago. What should have been a special occasion for national rebirth and reformation was frittered away by the sheer arrogance of the ruling class. What should have been a day of national mourning was treated with such recalcitrance, and possible disdain. It is difficult not to see or feel that this government is a victim of some witchcraft and hypnotism. A government that rode into power on the supersonic jet of goodwill of the people is barely struggling to survive a swim in the gutter of ill-wind. It is more like it has embarked on a predictable slide down a giant abyss, as by its very demeanour and offhanded posture it insults and belittles those very same people that it relied upon for the much vaunted change it promised but has found difficult to deliver. In many, albeit different ways, we seem to have gone back to the arrant impunity of the Jonathan era. What exactly is wrong? Anyway.

Pardon my digression, but the recent devastating and sad events in Benue State in which some herdsmen went berserk and attacked innocent indigenes of that State deserves condemnation of these terrorists by every Nigerian. I join others in offering my condolences to the families of all those who died in the unfortunate incidents. May the souls of the departed rest in peace.I commiserate with those injured and affected by the dastardly rampage. The time has come for President Buhari to act swiftly and decisively to curb this menace which has the potential to tear our country apart, despite the strenuous and vociferous protestations by the President about our unity being non-negotiable.

Now to the matter at hand. A few people suggested last week that I was working for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, probably because of our recent meeting and also partly because he is the main candidate who has declared his interest, and that is why I wrote that memo to President Muhammadu Buhari. Let me say with all the emphasis at my command that I’m not working for anybody. I’m too independent to be used by anybody. The time has not come for me to jump into the game. I have my eyes on a few bright guys of Nigeria but what if they don’t get the ticket? And what happens if we have Buhari and Atiku as frontrunners in the next election? You may wish to know who between the two I will support. When I’m faced with such option, I will not shy away from declaring my position publicly. I’m not the kind that would hide my support. When Chief Olu Falae contested against Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, I supported Falae, as a matter of personal principle. He did not have cash to throw around and I even spent my meagre income to travel to Vienna to try and persuade that cerebral gentleman, of blessed memories, Dr Rilwan Lukman, who was the kingpin at OPEC headquarters in Austria, to run as Falae’s Vice-President. Though the arrangement fell through, I still returned home to support Falae. Only one person can win at a time.

I never supported any PDP candidate in their sixteen years in power though I admired a few of their action-packed Governors. The last election that catapulted them out of power finally convinced me that behaviourally and ideologically, the difference between APC and PDP was between six and half dozen. There was no way APC would have emerged triumphantly without the epic support of the PDP dissenters. Anyone can say whatever they like today, I was an eye-witness, and active participant, in the making of that spellbinding, suspense movie. Amaechi, Saraki, Kwankwaso, Atiku, Wamako, Tambuwal, and others from the PDP made so much difference when they added their weight to those of the godfathers from the other Parties that formed the APC conglomerate.

My decision to support APC, though never a member of the Party till this day, was primarily to get rid of the PDP fiefdom that was stylishly manifesting and bourgeoning into a veritable catastrophe for the country. Two, to stop the profligacy that had characterised the government of the day. I have met some key actors who said President Goodluck Jonathan was never a corrupt man personally but he lacked the strong will to challenge his thieving acolytes. That was the major weakness that guillotined his regime. Most reluctantly for some of us, Buhari became an option and a stopgap. Anyone who followed my support for President Buhari would have seen how I regularly referred to him as the Mandela option. I didn’t expect him to become a permanent feature. I’ve always believed that anyone above the age of 65 is a high-risk option, and I said this about Buhari during our Presidential race in 2011.

However, since the last Presidential election was a straight fight between Jonathan and Buhari, the choice was totally limited. Many of those who supported Buhari also considered his anti-corruption credentials though, in retrospect, I believe we downplayed his anti-democratic records and proclivity. I still have no doubt that he’s one of the most honest Nigerians alive today, although like Jonathan he seems to be surrounded by people in respect of who that is difficult to say.

It is likely that age, as well as the reality and practicality of how he attained power, have jointly humbled and mellowed his almost sacramental vows against corruption. It would be tantamount to monumental hypocrisy and superlative ingratitude to bite the fingers that fed one in our hour of acute need. It has become critically obvious that what has confronted Buhari in power was never what he anticipated or bargained for. This is why I advised him last week to bow out with whatever honour he has left, instead of squandering everything away. If he stubbornly contests the next election, he would be forced to compromise and capitulate on a number of things. He would have no choice than to play the erstwhile PDP card, by opening the vaults of the Central Bank of Nigeria to political vultures who are not known to be patient or merciful in respect of primordial interests. That was my honest and candid appeal to Baba out of genuine concern for his future and legacy. Let us, at least, continue to dream that we have one selfless and incorruptible leader in Nigeria.

The truth, is that my preference would be for younger candidates in both major Parties and my criteria would be as follows. The candidate must be well educated. Nigeria has produced more than enough graduates from every part of the country for us to be continuously and endlessly led by near-illiterates. The candidate should have managed people and resources, whether in a private or public capacity or both. The candidate is expected to be seriously exposed to modern trends. Ability to communicate well would be appreciated since he would have to interact with world leaders. I want a Nigerian candidate and not a sectional leader. Anyone who cannot feel at home in any part of Nigeria is not fit to lead our otherwise great nation. Anyone still relying on zoning, quota and Federal character to become anything in Nigeria is certainly an enemy of progress. We must consider the brightest people from every part. There are enough people in Nigeria who fit this bill. We can’t simply say that we cannot find one such person. Our search should in reality be moving on to finding the very best of the best. Once we find our Leader and his deputy then we should not care too much about engaging others, including foreigners, who are the best at infrastructure and facility building of the type we so desire and need. Dubai is not solely managed by Emirati citizens. The UK allows foreigners to manage critical sectors, including the economy, a good example being the Bank of England (their Central Bank) headed by a Canadian, Mark Joseph Carney.

I will not totally disqualify exceptional elders who have distinguished themselves under most of my above criteria lest I fall victim of the same bigotry I’ve been preaching against. Some elders are more reasonable, less corrupt, more business-savvy, more exposed to international standards, more efficient, less cantankerous, more focussed, andmore visionary than our so-called youths. We have since come full cycle by trying sinners and saints but we have not yet succeeded in having great and big thinkers. We cannot, and must not, continue to delude ourselves that we can find saints from anywhere to lead us. What we need, as a matter of urgency and desperation are competent performers from wherever we can seek and find them. By now, we should be tired of exchanging the baton of backwardness and mediocrity every four years. Like joke, like joke, nothing spectacular has happened to us for decades now while smaller countries across Africa are marching forward confidently and admirably. Our own leaders seem to be very comfortable in our squalid, desolate and unsavoury conditions. No qualms. No urgency. No new ideas to copy, borrow or buy. We are permanently stagnant and sanguine about our perpetual state of inertia.

The next election should be a turning point. We can no longer afford to play politics of ethnicity, money and religion. I reiterate that we must search frantically, extensively and productively for the best. The world would leave us very far behind at the rate we are going. We are already desperately behind and trying to play catch up. We do not need to lose more ground.I’m appealing to everyone who loves Nigeria to free Nigeria from the bondage of oppression, suppression, ethnic jingoism, religious fanaticism, terrorism, Satanism, and all forms of retrogression. 2019 cannot, and should not, be business as usual. It should be our year of true liberation and independence. Yes. The time has come to assemble our proven performers in a government of national unity. Nigeria cannot be handed over, or handled anymore by professional politicians who have no other business or job they do, and who merely see their stay in government as an opportunity for self-aggrandisement, and unashamed and unabashed looting of our collective wealth. Rather we want Nigerian leaders who are committed and passionate about their country.

Our chosen leaders must be willing to sacrifice their all to ensure and enhance the comfort of their fellow citizens by providing the simple basics of life.Nigerians have never been a demanding people.We merely want education for our children, decent wages for our hard labour, good health care, electricity, water, food, security and above all peace. For now, every single one of these matters evade and elude us notwithstanding our vote for change! The President and his Vice President must provide evidence of what they have done and accomplished in their lives. Merit, productivity, passion and vison must be our watchword. Irrelevant considerations, like religion, ethnicity or even gender, have no place in this equation.

Uncle Dee please stop dreaming. GEJ and PMB and the others except a few have been and are figure heads. Nigeria is ruled by the caliphate and for the caliphate. The sultan of sokoto is the defacto president of Nigeria whilst the emir is his mouth piece. All decisions of government are approved or disapproved by the caliphate.. The reason behind the inability of some of the presidents to effect any meaningful change in the country. Its all about their selfish interests not even minding their own to encourage their own development. No good leader shall emerge until Nigerians in the north south east and west understand what’s going on and deal with it. They are the cabal. They have been in existence for a very long time. And they have all their proxies in strategic positions in government and both public and private sectors. They wield power and have resources and have a violent followership because they are the ATM machines for their subjects. But when all is said and done the buck stops with all nigerian youths irrespective of region to vote for competence over mediocrity. .. be it from the north or south or east or west.

FrNinja

Buhari has impoverished Nigerians to an extent not seen since the 1980s despite oil being at 50 dollar far higher than it was during Obasanjos tenure. Inflation is through the roof, unemployment is sky high and incomes have been stagnant. Most damning is that while African countries have posted 4-5% growth, Buharis Nigeria has been in the negative.

Buhari is like a poster for economic disaster and he should be sent out of office along with the APC in 2019.

This is the time for the rise of an anti establishment Nigerian political movement to rise up.

Mystic mallam

Are you serious Mr Dele Momodu – ‘Jonathan and arrant impunity’ together? Sorry Dele, that’s a big stretch. Jonathan may have been everything we say – clueless, spineless, drunkard, corrupt –
I don’t know and can’t vouch for him. But one thing I can bet my last cent on – Jonathan was so far from approving and promoting impunity as the sun is from mother earth; whereas Buhari is as close to embracing and legalising impunity as Dele’s upper and lower lips. Just for starters, I can’t recall a single time Jonathan disobeyed or ignored court orders let alone hunt down his opponents and throw them into jail houses. One needs not say more…

sunny okocha

Dele writes an article people bother to take heed to his advice like they dnt know him criticism is not when a government does not favour you it becomes a bad government.
I just wonder why we seem to forget too early the macadamised trash dele has been churning for months in praise of corrupt people the same people who brought this country to its knees and you all seem to think he means well wait and see the next lines from hydra headed corrupt journalist whom the young ones have nothing but dishonesty and immodesty to learn from.

Ebuka Nwafor

The truth Dele is that your opinion doesn’t matter any more. I group you as one of the many unscrupulous elements that Hoodwinked Nigerians into voting this mess of APC. History will always remember your role in installing the Nigerian Hitler.

Alaya Abdul

2019 is around the corner, get set because PDP wailers will still cry. PDP were not able to stop APC in 2015 despite all it dollars, postpone election and govt magic and you thinks you can stop APC now ?

Pot and kettle

APC PDP, is that all you can think and talk about?
I’m not usually rude online, but you’re just a waste of space.
Are you loyal to a party or to your country?
Think!

Alaya Abdul

Telling you my party won and will still will again is been rude ?

Pot and kettle

I give up. Sorry sir.

amebo

Once upon a time you wanted to be president. The last time you and your cohorts mislead the youth. I have not bothered to read the rubbish here. Who made you a king maker.?

remm ieet

APC has spectacularly failed to achieve anything that is remarkable, other than pandering towards Buhari. I’m not surprised. That is the way ordinary Nigerians pander towards the rich in their midst too. We always like to drift in the direction of personalities we want to be like and achieve similar success. Tinubu threw his weight behind Buhari so that he too could have a chance of becoming president one day. You have met many Nigerians leaders through Ovation so you decided to run for president, until you discovered how hard it was. Later you decided to be business man, dropping your political ambition.
We don’t really genuinely think development in Africa the way developed states do. Without a developing a systematic approach to evolving political leaders with proven track record, all we will do is to impose people without experience on the people, and call them leaders

Unite2013

PMB obviously needs Miyetti Allah for his second term ambition. He can’t deal with them now.

KWOY

1. Anybody who is still giving Buhari the remaining 12 months to prove himself is diabolical like Buhari – he/she is suggesting that all the evils Buhari have commited in the last 3 yrs are ever pardonable!

2. Is the talk about dropping ethnicity, zoning, federal character, etc is a demonstration that Dele Momodu who fought Jonathan for appointments have weaned himself of politics based on appointments? Anyway, Femi Orebe (Dec. 27, 2017- Jan. 2018) & co at THENATION are not following him!

3. Is Yorubas’ inability to openly accept that it fought Jonathan because of appointments an acceptance that they should not have fought Jonathan or any govt because of appointments? Is it a proof of their reputed cowardice & their Afonja genetic constitution to survive from phase to phase & from decade to decade from treachery & spite?

4. Now that Yoruba people have had the appointments they fought for but are now worse of morally an indication that like Esau, they have eaten their honour with porridge & are finding out that man shall not live by bread alone?

5. The Yoruba still prefer to bury their heads in the sand by avoiding the main issue which is restructuring the country because, like their northern collaborators they are perpetual allies in the satanic quo of oil rent. In 2023 or 2027, the Yoruba will still be looking for ‘that’ candidate

Iggy

Why this preoccupation, obsession and fixation about the Yorubas? Is it a clever way of waking them up from slumber or just vexatious spirit borne out of some disillusionment?

KWOY

The reason is because it was a Hausa who wrote this piece of lies!

Alaya Abdul

Where was your dick head when the Yoruba stood up for Jonathan to be made the acting President ? how many of your people were in Save Nigeria Group ? Where were you when we voted for him in 2011 , he got to power gave us middle finger. Jonathan only remember us during 2015 election but our votes are for sale, remember dollars rain in southwest then. A little research will show you that southeast always vote/alliance alike with the north since first republic.

KWOY

So, at least you can admit your war was of the belly & not of the head; that your Problem was marginalization & not impunity!

Intrepid

Dele it was another great piece. Now you are sticking your neck out for the Nigerian masses.

Sustain Transformation

You are really living up to your homonym of your moniker, Insipid. Last article was spicy, this was tasteless. He is yet to blame PMB and should stop referencing PDP. Quite insipid.

Intrepid

Unlike you Mr Transformation, the Writer is undergoing gradual mind transformation by accepting he backed the wrong horse . He must not crucify Buhari to satisfy you. Buhari is already crucifying himself.

Ralph

Reading through this waffle, all one can pick up is, ‘I this..’, ;I that…’, Its all ‘I, I. I..’. Dele is too full of himself and thinks he’s that important. No sir, you are not important. Why don’t you run for president yourself? Puppet!

Intrepid

You are wrong Mr. Everything must not be your Buhari. Buhari is a DISASTER.

Ralph

Please be ready to vote against him on Feb 16th 2019

Iggy

The fact that you wrote on this platform that Dele is NOT important clearly shows his importance

Fowad

I support one of your criteria on the “ability to communicate with world leaders”. One of the biggest problems Nigeria has is this recycling of presidents who allow other world leaders to dictate policies to them. Communication is everything.
African leaders cannot outsource everything to others, including the media, and expect to reap the same reward with the world leaders in information management.
We need a president with capacity to communicate to Nigerians and to the world. Donald Trump’s disgusting reference to Africa as shithole reached Africans faster than Nigerian president’s comment on the security situation in his country.

Mayo

Dele, while I commend you on your recent ‘conversion’, you need to make it complete/total by calling a spade a spade and that is to lay the blame at Buhari’s doorstep. In this article and the one of last week, you have once again blamed everybody but Buhari. Haba! If Ovation starts failing today, who will be held responsible – you or one of your managers?

Grelia O

He is making John West’s case.

Iggy

I usually don’t get personal bros BUT really and truly, Dele has said everything maybe NOT in your exact words

Mayo

I beg to disagree. While campaigning for Buhari not to return in 2019 (i agree with this), Dele has in his last 2 articles blamed everybody around Buhari for the country’s woes. If you don’t fault Buhari for his acts of commission/omission, people can always advice Buhari – you’re not bad; it’s just the people around you; go for a second term and we will ensure you have the right people around you.

The fact of the matter is – Buhari is bereft of ideas and knowledge of how to run a modern economy and a plural society. When you don’t have the right ideas and you don’t understand the modern society, you will hire people with the same mindset. So while those people will be messing up in their different fiefdoms, you started the ball rolling.

Finally it is good to blame Buhari because when things improved a bit at the beginning due to normal cyclical nature (like power improving a bit during rainy season), or due to sucking up to a new regime, accolades were given to Buhari’s body language. It is thus just and fair that if things go wrong, blame should also go to Buhari

Arabakpura

Dele, let me first of all say “Amen” to your very last comment!

I also want to quote you that ” we must stop exchanging the baton of backwardness and mediocrity every four years”; that appears to be what we have been doing and this MUST stop!

I cannot say that Nothing has been gained from having Buhari in leadership, but he has outlived his usefulness and has now begun to cause Nigeria heartache! He is now on his own and is simply pursuing personal interests and aggrandizement!

He has even told us that his doctors has asked him to sleep long hours and eat and I dare add to the doctors advice that: Buhari should sleep long hours, eat and shit; we must insist however, that he can’t do these at the expense of Nigeria!

Nigeria does not need a President that will sleep long hours; we need energetic and suave young men to steer this ship away from the approaching iceberg!

Ralph

And you havent found that candidate yet, 12 months to election?

Arabakpura

Buhari came on board in August of 2014; 7 months to the elections!

Ralph

Excellent. May God keep us alive. For your information, Buhari was a candidate in 3 previous elections. Just in case you didn’t know

Arabakpura

There are others that have been candidates equal number of times, but, does that really matter? Dele Momodu has also been a candidate!

Ralph

When the times comes you will know it matters. Dele is just a loud mouthed ‘notice me’. Not sure his immediate household would vote for hiM. Pull out another name from the hat. I suspect there isnt any there

Arabakpura

He didn’t say he would contest! I only mentioned him to tell you that if contesting before has become a criterion, then there are too many people! You don’t seem to understand the anger in the land and what people are doing to replace the current leadership! Buhari missed so many questions that he will be made to answer this time! APC was a special purpose vehicle used to oust Jonathan from office! God will definitely provide another! Buhari got his on what we thought was a personal recognition which he has squandered; the next person will meet certain criteria to qualify and he must not be a tribal and religious bigot like Buhari! Thanks to the social media; evil will no longer thrive in Nigeria unnoticed!

Ralph

And I’m telling you that you don’t wake up in August and win elections the next March. Buhari will win 4 more years. By 2023 this country would have been put on a trajectory to greatness that will shock the rest of the world. Nigeria is on the path to attaining quantum leap in economic and industrial development, never seen in any black majority country. Those insulting Nigeria today will marvel and want to associate with the success story.

Olugbenga

I’m fascinated with your optimism (I honestly wish they were true).
Can you please share with the rest of us the indices for this your upbeat position (I personally need something to help me have hope again in Nigeria, although I never expected any magic from Buhari and still cannot expect any even at this juncture.)

Ralph

I know a good foundation when I see one. I assure you in 10 years Nigeria will be unrecognizable if we stay the course and not lose our nerves. Look around you closely beyond the sad incidents of herdsmen etc and you will see the engine of agriculture, power, rail, mining, industrial revolution quietly starting to run steadily. Foreigners like Branson are singing about it to others to jump in an invest. Beyond the shortcomings, an honest and hardworking government is taking hold.

189 hosp

At the end of it all, you actually said nothing.
Olugbenga asked for concrete indices for your upbeat optimism, instead you resorted to general sentimental platitudes.

Sustain Transformation

The guy is high on something; probably psychedelics. My worry is he is not sharing the designer drugs he is on. Poetry on nomadic trail.

Ralph

I don’t have to say much. Those who can read will understand

Sustain Transformation

You are not sharing what you are smoking bro?

Arabakpura

Absolute balderdash! Even if there is a mistake somewhere, he wil not make it back to that throne – SOMEHOW!

Sustain Transformation

…and you omitted, a “quantum depopulation” after the christians has all been slaughtered by the marauding PMB special nomadic hit squad a.k.a Fulani Herdsmen. Kindly share whatever you are drinking with me, I need to get high too.

Ralph

Don’t play politics with the sad thing happening with herdsmen. Both Christians and Muslims are being killed. Every one of those lives matter

Truth is bitter

Dele, your criteria for a new leader is good but curiously you did not include ability to fight corruption as a criteria. If you are genuine, you will realise its the number enemy of Nigeria and is one of the reasons Buhari is being criticised now. Nuhu Ribadu met all your criteria but, will you support him? Not a chance, because he might not play ball. It has to be someone who will offer you a post in his government. So much love for Nigeria above personal interest.

Mayo

South Korea was/is notoriously corrupt yet it is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Chicago and New York were once rife with corruption in political places but they are very well developed cities with strong economies. I’m not trying to say no one should focus on corruption or that corruption doesn’t have a cost but this belief that corruption is the number one enemy of Nigeria is false. At the minimum, you can argue that there are multiple things occupying the number one spot.

I always refer people to the Presidential debate for the 2011 elections. In that debate, almost every question thrown to Buhari had him answering with ‘kill corruption’. You could see that Buhari had no idea of what the issues were which meant he had no idea of how to fix them.

Grelia O

Wishful thinking. While it is good to have people of integrity in positions of leadership, such people can never fight corruption and other ills of the society as effectively as strong democratic institutions. While societies historically can survive and have survived the abuse that results from compromised leadership, they hardly survive the absence of effective institutions that enforce the rule of law as a routine.

The US will survive the desaster called Donald Trump, for instance, as it has survived some other unsuitable presidents in it’s history. Nigeria, on the other hand, will be disproportionately affected by the desaster of Buhari as it has been by Buhari’s of many fellow horrible predecessors. Nigeria is so vulnerable because it lacks the inbuilt corrective and protective mechanisms that strong democratic and independent institutions provide.

Our unitary constitution allows the president and state governors almost unlimited powers with no realistic institutionally enforceable checks. When you throw in the arrogant born-to-rule mentalities of the Buharis of the world, the results are in full display.

The same absence of functional institutions was the reason Shehu Shagari, the real Mr. Integrity, also failed to curb corruption and move Nigeria forward.

That is why all these sermons about good individuals to run for office will amount to nothing without the right system, the right structure. The nation was put on death row the day local autonomy was abolished. All the public display of activism in the guise of fight against corruption is a waste of time. The only way to save the nation from certain death is either a restoration of local autonomy or a real patriotic dictatorship. I would rather we opt for the former because the latter is subject to abuse at some point due to natural human frailties.

Iggy

You won me over completely. KUDOS

William Norris

Your calling Donald Trump a disaster is objectionable.

If you understood the real issues troubling the USA you will understand that the PEOPLE of that country know what is good for them.

Are your Nigerians that elected Buhari wiser than the people of the USA that have created and SUSTAINED one of the most prosperous nations in the world for over a century or two?

Your approval of the people who elected Trump and disapproval of those who elected Buhari destroys whatever logic you have expressed on the issue. That Buhari’s election was pathetic and a display of our gullibility is not contested. However, the 2016 presidential election in the US was even a bigger desaster considering the literacy level of Americans. I didn’t mince words when I called Trump a desaster. In case I was not clear enough, please be informed that Trump is a desaster of epic proportion.

I have already given my take on the Buhari calamity, so there was no need for you to throw it back to me.

Over to your hero, Trump. He is an insult to the presidency of the United States. I am privy to the things that happened before, during, and after the election despite being a Nigerian. Trump is an accidental phenomenon in the WH, and that phenomenon has become a nightmare of some sort. His staff and many prominent republicans are constantly cleaning up after he messes up his administration and his party in public. The fear of anti Trump backlash in the next elections is forcing many incumbent conservative congress men and women to retire ahead of the elections. Between your opinion of Trump and these Republicans’ who know him better, I will take theirs.

The nonsense of whether Nigerians who made the lousy choice of Buhari are better than Americans who chose Trump is laughable and beneath your intelligence. How about Germans who had been in the forefront of civilization, virtually in every aspect of knowledge for as long as the mind could go, electing the specimen called Adolf Hitler? To the extent that informed Germans elected a monster, Americans are capable of making similar horrible choices, and they proved that in their election Trump.

Just one year into his presidency America has lost a significant amount of ground in its international standing.

A combination of issues gave him the presidency. A lot of his primary opponents didn’t take him seriously and didn’t go after him on his countless vulnerabilities. He quickly tapped into Americans’ protectionist tendencies, and coasted home to the nomination.

The General election would have been over even before election day had complacency on the part of democrats, James Comey, and Russia not played against Hilary. The American electorate is not immune to gullibility and deception. Russia penetrated several local social media houses and used them to launch blistering and effectively damaging attacks against Clinton, which depressed her support among independents voters. James Comey’s intervention close to the election took a toll. Finally, a lot of Democrats took it for granted that Clinton would win and did not go to the poll. At the end of the day, these extraordinary issues, especially the roll of Russia, swayed a few undecided voters here and there in Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan, and Wisconsin, gave Trump victory by the slimmest of margins.

Buyer’s remorse was swift barely 24 hours after he was announced the victor.

Trump as a President is an embarrassment not just to the US, but to the entire Western World. He is as uninformed as he is crude and reckless. His domestic and foreign policy initiatives are disastrous. Wallstreet will react positively to relaxing every safety regulation that protects the environment and consumers. Lowering corporate and higher income tax at the expense of the middle class is short-sighted, and will backfire in the long-run. Conservative estimates doubt that his tax cuts will grow the economy out of the deficit hole the cuts will create. When Wallstreet gain fails to translate to the Main Street, the eventual effects will be negative.

With Trump in the White House, the KKK and White Supremacists are going mainstream again in the US, and he gives them red-carpet treatment. Social programs that benefit the poor and provide them avenue to the middle class are targeted for defunding. He has abandoned most of his campaign promises, and is signing bills presented to him by Republican House and Senate leadership with no input from him. He has no core and will go wherever the wind blows.

Thanks to him, North Korea has successfully joined the nuclear club at no net cost. Kim Jung-Un outmaneuvered, out-Trumped Trump. Merkel has taken over as the leader of the Free world despite Trump’s empty noise. His utter lack of tact has dramatically eroded America’s influence and prestige in the international community. He has created vacuums that are readily filled by Russia and China on the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East.

Only a Trump presidency could have created the nuclear false alarm situation in Hawaii yesterday. The same Trump is the reason both Japan and South Korea are rethinking their pacifist policies.

My brother, I agree with you on a lot of issues and I read whatever you blog directly or in response to other blogs because I learn from them. But on this Trump thing, you are way way off the mark. If he was what you say he is, Republicans would not be in full panic mode right now, fleeing him like the plague. Besides what I have personally gleaned of him and his governing style, I take my cue on him from those who know him best and work with him, his fellow republicans.

tobias

Who said he wouldn’t. He did under obasanjo. And do you remember shedding tears for yar’adua during the presidential campaign of that time claiming yar’adua was the best thing that happened to mankind, while he was chasing every other person with presidential ambitions out of town on the orders of obasanjo.

Mayo

Nuhu Ribadu that once claimed Tinubu’s corruption was of international dimension and yet Ribadu turned around and ran for the Presidency under a party led by Tinubu?

Nuhu Ribadu who abrogated the powers to disqualify people from contesting elections?

Finally the same Nuhu Ribadu who knew he was illegally promoted twice by Obasanjo but he accepted the promotion and then when the promotion was rescinded by the Police Service Commission under Yardua, Ribadu threw a tantrum and went on exile?

Kay

* Dear Uncle Dele, you said a lot. Some may be true and some may not be – but one thing you said that I know is a fact is… I quote: ‘If he stubbornly contests the next election, he would be forced to compromise and capitulate on a number of things. He would have no choice than to play the erstwhile PDP card, by opening the vaults of the Central Bank of Nigeria to political vultures who are not known to be patient or merciful in respect of primordial interests’

* As per a befitting president/Leader, my beleive is that the hour has not come, there is a time and a season for everything. The Nigerians I know are willing to sell thier votes as far as 2019 elections are concerned.

* A major event that will lead to a turn-around has not happened (a mighty revolution); the masses may not know their right and they may not know they can turn things around. As much as I know, government don’t turn things around, we need to talk and the government will listen if we speak in one voice. Protest is the language the elites understand. But it is unfortunate that Nigeria politics is very advanced – ASUU, NLC, TUC, SUGs have been politicized and fictionalized to the point that we now have pro-FG and anti-FG NLC, real-ASUU and ASUU-progressive. Within the suffering masses, we have pro- and anti-FG, just to mention a few.

* Finally, I believe the hour is near, our brothers and sisters are being brought back home from Libya and a thousand naira had been offered to them as transport allowance. Israel has a plan to send some of our brothers and sisters back home soon. Maybe south Africa will consider sending our people back home soon. I am happy about this because I believe finally, the people that will lead the protest which will trigger a major revolution Are coming back home. The hour is near!

#Please don’t quote me#

Curious One

How to criticize GEJ. He is bad, period

How to criticize PMB: GEJ was bad, PMB is better but not good enough

How to criticize the next president: GEJ was bad, the new president is better but not good enough.

The standard is GEJ. The constant is GEJ.

Very economical with the truth. Very lazy

Darcy

“The UK allows foreigners to manage critical sectors, including the economy, a good example being the Bank of England (their Central Bank) headed by a Canadian, Mark Joseph Carney.”

Remind me again, who’s Canada’s Head of State?

Oya find another example. Stanley Fischer aside, he’s Jewish.

The idea of handing over unelected positions of power to foreigners show that we are yet to understand the ethos of Republican democracy.

Ralph

Good one. I bet Dele doesnt know that there are Nigerians who are and were Chief Judges in other countries. The current Minister of Budget & Planning’s dad was Late Justice Udo Udoma – former Chief Judge of Uganda

Ahmed Buhari

I like the criteria you enumerated in this article. The main problem with this country is tribalism especially among the elite. We are often so blinded by parochial considerations so much so that we neglect the very crucial issues which must shape our destiny. Mr. Momodu, I put it to you that it is on account of this tinged parochial sentiment that you imported “impunity ” in the same breathe with Jonathan, in order to prefer Buhari to him in 2015. No objective person can use that word to describe former president Jonathan. You the south westerners deliberately deployed that word to mask your ethnic sentiments against Jonathan. With what we knew about Buhari and Jonathan in 2015, I cannot see how any sane/normal folk, not actuated by express and stupid parochialism, would choose Buhari ahead of Jonathan. We must now live with the consequences of that poor choice. I shudder when some folks say they never expected Buhari to turn out to be such a monumental failure. The question is this: Is there anything in Buhari’s present intellectual core and characteristics that was not easily decipherable in 2015? The point is that some of us were blinded by other stupid and premodal considerations such that we abandoned the core issues. We have started again. Nigerians must shine their eyes in 2019. We must have pity for generations unborn by focusing on the enduring and salient qualities when choosing our leaders in 2019, at all levels.

Alaya Abdul

@MBuhari govt shortcomings does not invalidate the decisions taken in 2015, GEJ govt was a disaster and failure. 16 years of unprecedented looting and damage to Nigeria foundation. Skyscrapers are not built on weak foundation. better avoid suicide bcos @APCNigeria will win 2019

Daniel Obior

Even when in only three years Buhari and APC have run a worse government, it does not invalidate the unfortunate decision of 2015? What a warped logic. If the PDP 16 years of your so called unprecedented looting has damaged Nigeria’s foundation, what will you say to the 30 years or so of military rule? Who can beat the unchecked looting with impunity and corruption of the Babangida/Abacha era?Must the truth be sacrificed to make this incompetent APC government look good? One wonders at your line of thinking and the APC type of lies you propagate..

Iggy

Bros, we have done enough of talking and repeating the same narratives many times. Lets get ready for 2019. A lot still needs to be done to install the leaders and government of our preference

Alaya Abdul

We have little control over what the military were doing then, we are in democracy and it so unfortunate that you can be justifying PDP corruption by making comparison. Leave story and let meet in 2019 election.

Daniel Obior

That there was no control over what the military was doing is precisely the point. The looting was at its worst. That is stating the fact and not a justification for PDP looting, even when we know there is looting also going on under Buhari and APC. Please lets stick to facts.

William Norris

Looting and corruption are CAUSED by government ownership of economic resources and commercial entities AND regulation of prices.

Jonathan and PDP in general were good for Nigeria because they pursued a long term policy of privatization and deregulation.

Buhari and the APC are hostile to privatization and deregulation.

Privatization and deregulation was the main issue at stake in the General Elections of 2015. The die was cast when Jonathan attempted to deregulate the Petroleum sector via PIB.

The Nigerian people feared a loss of access to free government goods paid for by petroleum revenues and chose to vote on that basis.

Nigerians PREFER feudal socialism. APC was astute enough to exploit that preference. The downside is that socialism can’t – will never – work in a diverse nation like Nigeria.

KWOY

The lazy Yoruba is incapable of doing without oil! So, Nigeria can collapse for all they want. It is not their Business!

The Duke

The National Assembly (both the lower and upper chambers) has FINALLY passed the PIGB, but the current president would not assent to it, except another president, because he needs to keep the un-appropriated subsidies flowing within his CABAL to oil 2019 elections.

bigdaddy

You are right. Jonathan would have sunk us even deeper into the abyss than Buhari did. However, Buhari must go back to Daura in 2019. We need someone in the mould espoused by Dele. The only Wahala is there is none that fits that bill amongst those that have indicated interest.

Iggy

It will ONLY take a big dreamer to start a movement that will culminate into a political party and revolutionize the country

Alaya Abdul

Give someone that will not remove the rotten key that Buhari have put on the nation treasury, someone with a really padlock. you can accused Buhari of many things but surely not a thief. Nigeria as only one problem, which is corruption- fix it and other things shall follow the trend. Till then Buhari all the way

Curious One

Buhari is not a thief and his son will drive a 56 million naira power bike ?

Alaya Abdul

Please can you post the picture of the bike in question or keep quite.

sunny okocha

56million naira bike you part of the greater naija problem 56million naira please post bike and price we ll verify on the internet stop posting trash

Felix Udoh

Lol. Every one who has been stealing in this Government and protected by the Government is stealing for Buhari.

Alaya Abdul

We meet in 2019.

Sustain Transformation

It seems your man is a thief. PMB I mean. Whether he wins in 2019 or not does not remove that fact. he is a thief, period.

bigdaddy

Na padlock you go chop. Agreed he has not left the door of the treasury widely open like jonathan who actually removed the door to the treasury altogether. Some of his cronies are actually looting and he is deliberately turning a blind eye to it.
There are people out there who can stop the looting while actually governing and putting the country on the path to prosperity at the same time. He has no idea about how the modern world works and has refused to sorround himself with those who know prefering to govern as if he is the chief of a hamlet in medieval times. Let him go and tend to his cows and his failing health in Daura in 2019.

Country man

Anybody who sees corruption as the biggest problem with this nation, ALWAYS misses the point.
Ask yourself why corruption continues to thrive in Nigeria irrespective of who is in charge.
Its a systematic dysfunction that creates the conducive environment and the mentality

Olugbenga

It is always a hard sell with the average Nigerian that Nigeria’s disfunctional system is a bigger headache than corruption.
Buhari’s biggest shortcoming is that he also belongs to this category and has found out to his chagrin that “fight against corruption” is not the magic wand.
The man has ran out of ideas and should quietly quit at the end of this his disastrous tenure.
May God bless Nigeria one way or another.

Pot and kettle

GEJ’s PDP messed up and were thrown out in 2015. Why would you then vote Buhari’s APC in 2019? Do you believe he deserves a 2nd term?

Danladi Rabiu

Buhari must be allowed to complete his 8 years for fairness and equity. Atiku is corrupt and his emergence will deny the south the opportunity of taking over in 2023. So the best option for both north and south is buhari. The south should be patient for North to complete its 8 years considering how Jonathan cheated us. In 2023 VP Osibajo will take over and we northerners will back him. Our experience with young people ended in disgrace as we have not forgotten Bankole that is being tried for corruption and Salusi Buari that forged certificate. So experienced and elderly leaders like Buhari is good for Africa as Nigeria is not yet matured to entrust leadership to hip-up loving un-serious youths as advocated by Dele. So readers should ignore Dele momodu as he has joined the rank of wailers. After Buhari 8 years we can then experiment new things

Naija United

What a disgusting comment. How long are we going to remain in this Tribalism?

tobias

Naija united, danladi has thrown the south a challenge, a challenge to show that yes the south is less motivated by ethnic and primordial sentiments than the north. One of danladi’s arguments is “give us our eight years now and we will give your eight years after. If you don’t give us buhari, you stand a chance of waiting another eight years before the south can take a shoot at the presidency. Why don’t we say that we are not bothered if the north or whoever stays in power for a million years as long as we are convinced that whoever is in charge is leading us on the right path.

Iggy

Fantastic. I agree with you

Akanmu-muideen Matthew Adejare

and by the time your man complete his 8 years full term,which is not possible given the present challenge and scenario except he accomplished his annihilation assignment,God forbid.the hip-hop loving un-serious youths have to take over at least they got numbers on their side anyway.by the way,equity and fairness follows the law and more so equity imputes on intention to fulfill an obligation,above all PMB knows no equity therefore he will surely be defeated for lack of vigilance!

Dare Odeyemi

Hellooooo, Nigerian does not belong to northerners. It’s for all of us. 8 years is not Buhari’s right. He will only be voted for another 4 yrs on his performance. A student who fails a particular exam can not be promoted to the next class. Let’s eliminate every forms of parochial interest in our political process. I am a true Nigerian not a Politician.

chimaegbukole

Danladi has Atiku stolen from or from our common wealth? Please show proof or you bury that thought. We need to stop giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it. Don’t worry about 2023. All we want is good governance

Ahmed Buhari

Shame on you. It is these stupid and shallow considerations that are the real problems here. That is what I mean. You are however not alone in this sort of superficiality; in fact our politicians are adept at conjuring up these kinds of schemes in order hoodwink gullible folks. No one will be surprised if the APC adopts your abovementioned narratives as their core strategy for campaign for the re-election of Buhari. But I tell you one thing: Buhari has been a monumental disaster for the entire country, particularly the north. We are still the poorest part of the country, by all standards. Apart from the few appointments which the President has malignantly skewed in favour of the North, he has done nothing of any concrete importance for the North. But whether you like it or not, there is nothing like Northern Naira or Northern petrol pump price or Northern price of rice. The fact is that Buhari is totally incompetent to rule this country and the stench of his said incompetence permeates the entire country, particularly the North. The 2019 elections must be a referendum on Buhari’s performance in office; it cannot be about those primordial stupidities which you and your ilk are now trying so hard to weave. It will not fly. We must redeem this country in 2019, if Buhari does not voluntarily resign before then.

tobias

Let’s hope it will not fly but I seriously doubt it will not. Its not only the politicians that play ethnic politics you know. As the saying goes, “it takes two to tango”.

John Paul

The guy spoke his mind. He supports PMB because PMB is a Northerner. At least, he is honest. He is not a hypocrite

In light of the $268 billion that Nigeria made between 2011 to 2015, from oil and gas alone, which was mostly looted and mismanaged by the guys in charge, at that time, anyone that claims that he doesn’t understand the merit of the regime change of 2015, most likely profited from the profligacy of that era

But unlike Danladi, they are not being honest and forth coming, about why they supported and still support GEJ

The bottomline is that, no matter what, it may take Nigeria a whole generation to recover from the decay and looting of the last dispensation

KWOY

Are there worse hipocrites in the whole wide world that Yorubas? COWARDS, at least northern Nigeria is sincere abt what they want & what their displeasure is, but for the Yoruba, envy & spite stay at the Background driving their alliances in opportunism. Ohaneze & whoever can decieve themselves till the end of the world! If they fail to understand that the useless exercise abt handshkes is all because Yorubas find themselves in a Moral quagmire of being unable to unsit the TERRORIST that used them in the latest round of spite & treachery, then time will prove to them that Yoruba will forever be Yorubaa!

Nnaemeka Odo

Who among Jonathan and Buhari inflicted more injuries to the nation.

Iggy

Bros , the issue is NOT about comparison lest you are also labeled as a bigot. The main issue is that we need kind , sympathetic , intelligent capable and genuine leaders to lead the nation

KWOY

Let the Yoruba Propaganda not decieve you: Nigeria has never had such an excellent leader like Jonathan. The dirty idiots were the defenders of the world Guru of corruption – ota ape Olusegun Obasanjo!

What a flawed narrative. So people with this backward mentality and heavy tribal inclination still exist in Nigeria. I feel like throwing up

tobias

Please be informed that there are at least twelve million of them. But my guess is that they are about one hundred and eighty million.

bigdaddy

Danladi, where have you been since the election? Do you only resurface when electìns are around the corner?
You have started again ko? Wallahi gonda ka tuba fa da maganan tribe da kake yin nan.

tobias

Even if he has thoroughly messed up his four years? Buhari is not being prevented from running but new definition of fairness and equity is to allow everyone to take their chances with the electorates and whoever comes out the winner should be based on merit not on my turn your turn.

O’seun Ogunseitan

Danladi sir, the point now being made is that Dubai that we all flock to today, was a near arid desert when Nigeria was becoming independent some six decades ago. How come “northerner-loving” northerners who have ruled Nigeria for longer than Southerners, have been unable to improve the life and living conditions of northerners, to the extent that so many northern youths today feel their life and living condition is so worthless, that suicide bombing in the name of a foreign religion, has become the near vogue in the last eight years and still has been under President Buhari. Ponder sir, why more progress was made in the north when northerners ruled the north and southerners ruled the south, particularly between 1953 and 1960.

Ask yourself sir, how northerners and northern Nigeria, will ever make progress even under Buhari, when in this day and age, examination pass marks have to be lowered for northerners to gain admission into Universities, more than half a century after the founding of the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria. Will you ever agree that such a half-baked surgeon of northern origin, should carry out a Caesarean Section on your wife, daughter or daughter-in-law in future, even while the likes of Prof. Umaru Shehu, is a northern Nigerian brain that is globally acclaimed as one of the best in his medical field and did not gain admission to read Medicine some 50 years years ago by a quality-lowering quota. Stop supporting politics of crass and base patronage and unfair advantages. It will never breed the best Nigerian whether from the south or the north. Please embrace the search for purpose-led detribalised national leaders emerging as Nigerian Presidents, not mere year counting leaders, who will only go into the history books too, as just having been there when they leave the world largely worse than they met it.

KWOY

Do not mind him! When OBJ was ruining the atmosphere with corruption the Yoruba tribalists were defending him. When OBJ was taking gold medals in corruption the Yorubas were fightinhg OBJ’s enemies. When he was setting wporld records in election rigging they left him to focus on Yar’ Adua by saying that “Yar ‘ Adua admits that the election that brought him to power was flawed!” while hectically defending OBJ.The best they did to criticize OBJ was to say that “Mr President thinks that he knows it all! Yorubas never saw Buhari’s integrity since 2003 when he started running until 2015 when Jonathan marginalized them in appointments! The Yoruba is not prepared for the ideals you are preaching! They live on here & now – starting from Afonja through Awolowo till today!

Iggy

The narratives i read and experienced shows clearly that the Yorubas were the most vitriolic enemies of OBJ. In fact, the most powerful and relevant ministers and officials of his government to date are non Yorubas.

KWOY

You can tell that to the marines! Yorubas overwhelmngly opposed OBJ’s candidacy. But the moment OBJ was imposed, they put on a defensive mode in his favour – defending his monumental corruption & fighting his enemies.

On appointments, OBJ, in order to curry Yoruba favour, displayed Buhari-like nepotism to Yorubas. But not minding that it was Ekwueme who founded G34 that campaigned for his release & whom the military robbed to give him ticket, he turned against Ekwueme & Igbos. He so marginalized Igbos that even northern nigeria complained. It was his marginalization of Igbos that created MASSOB. In spite of that, his most core supporters were Igbos. So, in his 2nd term, he had to appoint Soludo, Okonjo-Iweala, Oby Ezekwesili & the rest who ended up giving his rudderless govt a direction, but against whom the Yoruba & their media, in typical style driven primarily by envy, eventually turned & have been demonizing

Iggy

I agree with you that Yorubas are usually envious of other tribes because other tribes are more progressive, more sophisticated, more educated, more developed and more exposed. Yorubas are so inferior to other tribes that they have no identity .

Alaya Abdul

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. now imagine how naked your brain is ? Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain – and most fools do

Iggy

@Alaya Abdul, I wrote a satire in response to @KWOYs preoccupation and hatred for the Yorubas. I can never disparage other tribes in any way. “Their” narratives that the Yorubas are jealous of them over nothing is laughable

KWOY

I do not the hell care! To all abyss with handshakes for all I know! YORUBAS ARED CRIMINALS & VAGABONDS! Who is the better between Dele Momodu & Ahmed Buhari? I will rather shake Ahmed Buhari’s hands than Dele Momodus! Yorubas have survived all their lives through treachery, spite & lies! Even the Hausa/Fulani is morally purer than you! Get lost!

William Norris

You’re talking trash. Every tribe hates other tribes and does its best to marginalize them. I wouldn’t call it envy. It’s competition and in a UNITARY STATE competition is destructive.

Iggy

@Willian Norris, what I wrote was a satire in response to @KWOYs pre-occupation with the Yorubas. You need to follow the discussion trail to understand.
I can never come to a public space and disparate other tribes.
Their narratives is that Yorubas are jealous of them for what in particular baffles me.

William Norris

That’s HUMAN NATURE. You I know for sure wouldn’t mind killing off all Yoruba if you get the chance.

I hope you’re Anambra Igbo? Because Igbo hatred of the Yoruba is an
Anambra ideology for their benefit only.

Which part of Igboland had the most power in the 1st Republic? Which therefore lost the most in the Civil War? Now you know the origin of animosity against the Yoruba in Igboland.

KWOY

You are talking about civil war, & not even the campaign about Mao Ohuabunwa’s intervention in the House Of Reps condemning the qualification of Osinbajo as ‘coordinating’ Minister being mischievously & wickedly termed by media campaign as ‘Igbo hate’ of the Hausa/Fulani in order to instigate the later against the former?;

You are talknig abt civil war, & not even about the castigation of Charley Boys’ #Ourmumudondo’s ‘Return or Resign’ protest being tagged Igbo hate of the Hausa/Fulani – all in the bid to shift away the crisis unto someone else & instigate the Hausa/Fulani against the Igbo?

….bros, I have the purest of heart in th world & that is why it bleeds for two things in the universe: LIES & INJUSTICE!

O’seun Ogunseitan

KWOY sir, permit me to ask you to remind yourself sir, the positions that Igbos occupied under President Obasanjo who you claimed “marginalised Igbos” and what positions were held by qualified Yorubas, under President Jonathan who you suggested was less nepotistic and more liberal. More importantly like Chima Okereke soundly advised us, standing rooted on a position when the world has moved on, will never do anyone any good. It becomes worse, when the position one is standing on is not rooted in any truth. Northerners have always been Gen. Obasanjo’s strongest supporters largely because his position is almost always in sync with the position of the practitioners of conservative hegemony in northern Nigeria who are indirectly always keeping Nigeria down, by ensuring northern Nigeria is always backward despite their long years in governance and then forcing the backward northern Nigeria to rule over Nigeria. Gen. Obasanjo’s position has always been against the widely know progressive liberalism and neo-welfarist disposition of the average South Westerner South Westerners have never supported a person like Gen. Obasanjo and are never likely to support any person of his conviction. Again like Chima Okereke soundly suggested earlier, we stand to gain nothing by falsifying why we failed yesterday, except we want to fail again tomorrow.

KWOY

My comment says sir, that Obasanjo marginalized Igbos upon coming to Office in 1999 even upon the fact that Igbos supported him while Yorubas did not Support him. His marginalization created MASSOB. Obasanjo was the first to burn bridges. Even northern Nigeria criticized him for it. But he remedied it in his 2nd term- an opportunity which Jonathan unfortunately didn’t get!

Again, sir, the Southwest has not moved on! This is why this Piece is still talking about impunity under Jonathan (rather than burning bridges), whxih Abraham Ogbodo has done well to reply in his sunday the Guardian column. This is why Jide Oluwajuyintan is condemning Momodu’s penultimate Piece (My good guess is that Momodu’s Piece embarrased the Yorunba Nation & they prevailed on him to retract with this Piece!). This is why Idowu Akinlotan is doing a rejoinder to Reuben Abati. This is why Simon Kolawole is defending the mass murders under the hemoragging govt of Buhari. This is why Femi Orebe is explaining to Yorubas the reason to follow Buhari in 2019…..And so on & so forth!

Sir, I REJECT the Insinuation of ‘falsifications.’ You know between you & I who is falsifying! Ahmed Buhari whose comment appears first above knows who between you & I is falsifying. IF THERE MUST BE TRUCE, IT MUST BE BASED ON TRUTH & SINCERITY! Otherwise, all handshakes (which I believe anyway are delusions that will collapse even before it starts because THE core issues will NEVER be affected by it)) could burn in hell!

Chima Okereke

My dear Kwoy,

I want to appeal to you, to tune down. I want you to move on. Dele Momodu has moved on, GEJ has moved on. You cant cry more than the bereaved. Most hailers have gone silent in utter disappointment with APC. You have got to move on, my dear. Yoruba this, Yoruba that, will not help us. As we move to vote out the present Grave Incompetence that we brought upon ourselves, nothing shall be allowed to distract us from the big picture, which is to vote of out the present pack of failures and vote in a Nigeria president who has the qualities enumerated by Bob D. above.

If there is anything we must learn from APC, it is that they were able to subjugate their individual position to their common goal of wresting power from PDP. Their focus was total. Even wicked. When the issue of moslem-moslem ticket tried to create problem for APC, Rotimi Amechi had to go kneel down for Bola Tinubu to resolve the issue. Liar Mohammed was ready to lie about anything under the sun in pursuit of that common goal. What was the outcome? They succeeded.

I beg you in the name of whatever you believe in, please move on. In the knowledge that APC has nothing else to deceive Nigerians with, a divided opposition is what APC is praying for. I beg you, don’t hand over power to APC in 2019 by sheer irrelevant, unhelpful vituperations you have been associated with in all you write-ups. You cant be rooted in one spot for 4 years and expect sensible people to stand with you. You can’t have your eyes looking back, if you want to move forward. Please let keep our eyes on the big picture and avoid distractions.

Thank you and God bless you.

KWOY

Thank you for your appeal, which is humbling. But Dele Momodu has not moved on! Idowu Akinlotan has not moved on! Jide Oluwajuyintan has not moved on ! Femi Orebe has not moved on! …..And thousnads of them have not move on! IF WE MUST MOVE ON, WE MUST MOVE ON TOGETHER! We can NEVER MOVE ON standing on the very lies that created the crisis! And more importantly, we must move on on the basis of truth & TRUTHFUL solutions! We must resist the attempt to pander to some peoples’ sense of pride, while they themselves continue to spue their own lies!

O’seun Ogunseitan

You are being blinded sir, by what you claim is making Nigerians blind. Your bias against the South West has made it impossible for you to recognise that Gen. Obasanjo never won any election, even in his own Electoral Ward in Ogun State, either as a former or sitting President, yet you claim Yorubas always supported him. You conveniently forgot too sir, that the same President Jonathan who was rejected by majority of South Westerners in 2015, was supported and actually defeated today’s President Buhari in the same South West, with the exception of Osun State, in 2011. You equally forgot sir, that President Jonathan’s ascendancy to the Acting Presidency during President Yar Adua’s illness, was also championed on the streets mainly South Westerners even with rallies in the South West too.

I think we will do every incoming administration in Nigeria a world of good by not running away from accepting that President Jonathan lost the 2015 Presidential Elections, because he thoroughly burnt his bridges and abused the massive goodwill he came in with back in 2011. It is exactly like President Buhari is currently fast burning his bridges and more massively eroding the massive goodwill he came into the office with in 2015. This truth will hopefully guide future leaders to perform and deliver on their promises, rather than be misleading them that good or bad performance will never matter, once an ethnic group is for or against a President or his political party.

KWOY

And please sir, can you explain to me what you mean by BURNING BRIDGES?

O’seun Ogunseitan

Burning bridges sir, is like destroying the ladder a person used to climb to get something higher off the ground. The person will have to have to crash down on his way back. It is like poisoning the source of the river one drinks from. There will be nothing to hold on to in a free fall back. Every relationship involves bridges that must be maintained.

KWOY

And, sir, you are still being evasive! What do you mean by bridge burning?

Iggy

You labeled the whole South West people as insane and abnormal. WOW! kudos to you

Ahmed Buhari

No. Please take your time and read that article a second time. I cannot label the south west as insane and abnormal. I love the south west. I schooled there; I am a proud product of the prestigious Faculty of Law, UNILAG. Yorubas are among my best friends, till date. Please focus on the issues.

Iskacountryman

please answer the following questions, if you may, speculate…(i) how much would a presidential candidate form for pdp or apc cost?… (ii) how much would it cost to buy a delegate at the convention?…if the answer to the above is above 100m…then you and the writer are talking nonsense…

The king maker has finally taken his anointing oil to another David. From now on it will become only Atiku or nothing. Where are Nigerians in all these roforofo?

Ralph

Dele doesnt even understand politics. All he knows is parties, funerals, and wedding pictures. Atiku wont get PDP ticket to begin with. PDP governors wont take that risk

Grelia O

Nobody is anointing Atiku. Other Nigerians interested in the office should show up. Atiku is only mentioned perhaps because of his body language.You are part of the Nigerians whose whereabout you are wonderful. You can speak up. There’s no doubt that there are many better qualified Nigerians than Atiku. However, if it eventually becomes a binary choice between him and Buhari, despite Atiku’s flaws, there will be no contest. That’s how toxic Buhari really is. Most of his toxicity was masked during his dictatorship years, and he was massively masqueraded by the Tinubu group, the media, and the intelligentsia. His brief stint in office in an open govt aka democracy has exposed him. Many patriotic Nigerians are now remorseful of buying the dummy sold to them in 2014, the very reason 2019 will be the opposition’s to lose.

William Norris

The key to making Nigeria a better place to live is TRIBAL AUTONOMY and if possible, sustained and widespread privatization and deregulation of prices. Also a massive shrinkage of government size and revenue and reach.

Any politician powerful enough to become a Presidential Candidate is LIKELY to have benefited from the current feudal-socialist system and thus will not likely pursue reforms.
IBB and OBJ did a lot to promote a liberal market economy but didn’t touch the Petroleum Sector which was preserved as a reserved area for CORRUPTION.

Jonathan tried to go there and Nigerians resisted and threw him out of office.

Fulani politicians are the biggest beneficiaries of the current system.

I don’t know where that leaves Nigeria. No good choices but risky ones. A candidate that EXPLICITLY promises massive privatization and deregulation and shrinkage of government would be a start. The problem is that Nigerians can’t bring themselves to honestly acknowledge that it’s time for free markets.

With all the above, my major recommendation is the same as in 2015. Tribal movements like the Niger Delta militants and Massob or IPOB and Afenifere or OPC should train and arm and in the event of victory by a non reform candidate, they should unleash MILITANT TERRORISM on this country.

They can do it. How protected is the National Assembly? Is it not possible to start assassinating these people like Tinubu, El-Rufai, Edwin Clark, Amaechi, Nwodo the head of Ohaneze, OBJ, Unongo, David Mark, Orji Uzor Kalu? Are these people ghosts?

But then I expected the same from Asari Dokubo around the middle of 2015 and he folded. Black Africans are just cowards. No hope.

Grelia O

Devolution of power will be a starting point because it all boils down to local autonomy. The infrastructure for what you are advocating is already in place. What is sorely lacking is the brain, the right mentality and staying power to sustain the fight.

All hope is not lost, though. The status quo is not sustainable. Something will definitely give. Two likely options are staring us in the face. Restructuring or implosion. Failure to restructure will trigger eventual implosion aka outright separation. No two ways about it.

tobias

Grelia, devolution to who? 36 six units of unviable or marginally viable entities? I submit that my idea of restructuring should a change in our economic paradigm and reduction of the number of states by half, I.e. back to the 19 states structure we had at some point. States should decide on the no.of LGA’s which also need drastic cuts. But let’s be clear, until and unless we change our economic paradigm from that of govt occupying the commanding height to that of market-based principles, we are not going anywhere. So when you are talking of power devolution it should not stop at the state or so-called regions level but all the way to individual and communal economic and property rights. Devolving socialist (or statist if you like) modus operandi from the centre to the states will not make us any wealthier or happy.

Grelia O

I’m with you on this issue. Most of the states are merely glorified LGAs or provinces. My devolution of power assumes the 6 zones as federating units. The likely problem zone is the SS due to its high level of heterogeneity, but that can always be resolved. Even in zones where there isn’t 100% unanimity, a merger arrangement could be made based on willingness. The bottom line is that the current 36 administrative structure is not sustainable.

The vulnerabilities have always been there but easy oil revenue and lack of willingness to talk about the inherent problems gave the wrong impression of normalcy. It took the sudden dip in the price of oil in the face of exploding population, and Buhari’s extreme sectionalism to wake most of the nation from wilful inaction.

A change in economic paradigm will be a given once power and responsibilities are devolved downward. The most important item that will devolve is fiscal autonomy, and the sure way to survive and remain viable for most of the federating units will be what you are advocating. History has shown that strong arm federal control of the economy is retrogressive. Look at the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations and their lookalikes elsewhere. It’s only a matter of time before North Korea reinvents like China, re-unifies with South Korea or implodes. Ultra-conservatives’ time is running out here at home. Their 1967 creation is dying under their watchful eyes and there is not much they can do about it because there is no viable alternative to restructuring.

tobias

What do you mean by ‘their 1967 creation is dying under their watchful eyes’? If you are referring to the 12 states created, I personally do think that it is an ideal number. I think that number has really taken care of the geography (land mass), ethnic homogeneity and heterogeneity issues. That with the right economic policies ( fiscal & monetary) will virtually take care of Nigeria’s seemingly irretractable problems.

KWOY

Hang yourself if you cannot accept regionalism. But neither you nor anybody will be able to stop the Igbo

tobias

kwoy, the noose is already on my neck. i don’t like suicide so I am waiting for you to pull the lever. i am not against you having your region which is exactly what the twelve state structure provided. so what’s your beef?

tobias

Kwoy, the noose is around my neck already but I hate suicide so I am waiting for you to come pull the lever. And the 12-state structure gave you your region; so what’s your beef?

Grelia O

The 1967 splitting of the nation into 12 states was arbitrary, and it was not done in good faith. I challenge the idea of geography, landmass, and homogeneity. There was no homogeneity in Rivers State of 1967 through the time of Bayelsa. What were many Igbos doing in states that were officially non-Igbo? Bendel was anything but homogeneous. If you were going to reduce the regions into states, then those factors must be enforced.

There could be a case to be made for administrative convenience, but that was hardly the case. To the extent that a grave injustice was done against a people called Nigerians, there is a need for formal redress at best or a formal and gazetted apology at worst.

That state creation anomaly was an act of gross impunity. If it was necessary to prosecute the unnecessary war of aggression, why was it not corrected after the war? I mean the aspect that did injustice to Igbos and Igboland. Imagine what would have happened if states were so arbitrarily created and non-Igbo populations, land and mineral resources are forcefully ceded to an Igbo states? That it has lasted for over 50 years and heaven has not fallen does not make it right.

Besides, that very injustice of particularity, the 12 state creation, was unconstitutional because it was not carried out or approved by We, the People.

If that injustice is addressed, I’m with you on the economic policy issues. To get it right, we should be able to look each other in the eye and tell the truth. Ultra-conservatives are afraid of the truth, and that’s why they resist a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the same reason they abolished the teaching of history in schools. They don’t want their injustice and hypocrisy to be exposed.

William Norris

Devolution to TRIBES

tobias

Great Norris! So how many tribes-nation states you hope to make out of the south south and north central?

William Norris

As many as God created.

The 6 region thing will merely be a devolution of the Nigerian problem.

Pure tribal states only, based on a Census with tribal self identification, with the majority carrying the vote in each municipality.

tobias

Norris, i hear you. i thought you don’t do this ‘God created’ thing. well, i personally do not subscribe to the 6 region concept. i like the 12-state structure better, although some are taking me to task thinking i am being anti-igbo for supporting it.

Country man

Very good point! RESPECT OF PROPERTY RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS. That’s the model of western nations.
Any devolution that does not get to that point achieves very little if at all anything.

Iggy

@William Norris, from your well written piece on economic models, i can perceive that you are well educated, well informed, widely travelled and exposed. I also have a feeling that yo don’t live in Nigeria.

Hmmmm! i don’t know what to say of your last 3 paragraphs

But remember that if you want something done very well, you have to do it yourself.

William Norris

Good Luck if you’re volunteering.

Too bad I’m not a Nigerian, I would have done it long ago.

John Paul

“Anyone still relying on zoning, quota and Federal character to become anything in Nigeria is certainly an enemy of progress”
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Gbam !

Nevertheless, we must focus more on the process and not the candidate. A democratic process, including open primaries, open debates between all major contenders, and free and fair elections, almost always leads to the best result. Albeit, an unexpected result

It cannot be overemphasized: when in doubt, we have to go back to the June 12 for guidance. We do not have to reinvent the wheel. We just have to copy and paste how Nigeria conducted business on that glorious day

During June 12, there was no zoning. No consideration was paid to whether the president and vice president were Muslim-Muslim. We had an open debates among the two major candidates running for president . And the elections were free and fair

So instead of Momodu to be shouting himself hoarse, by calling on PMB not to run in 2019, Momodu should focus on, and trust a process similar to June 12 to produce the best president for Nigeria in 2019

Nigerian Political Debates Commission Bill, 2015, was defeated in 2016 because of severe opposition, including opposition from INEC mostly because the opponents believed that a debate commission should not be an arm of government but a non profit association. They have a point:
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“The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is an independent nonprofit corporation established in 1987 under the joint sponsorship of both the Democratic and Republican political parties in the United States. The CPD sponsors and produces debates for US presidential and vice-presidential candidates and undertakes research and educational activities relating to the debates. It has run each of the presidential debates held since 1988. The Commission’s debates are sponsored by private contributions from foundations and corporations” – Wikipedia
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IPerhaps, Momodu should stop endorsing his friends, and other candidates, here and there, for the position of the President. He should look at the big picture and bring all major political parties together to establish a formidable presidential election commission

Nigeria is not all about the 2019 or even 2023 elections. When Momodu’s children are his age, we will still need that commission to organize debates for the presidential elections of that era.

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